Topical deodorants have been formulated in a variety of forms and are intended for topical application to human skin to mask or prevent malodors associated with human perspiration. These topical deodorants are typically applied topically to the underarm or other area of the skin in the form of soft deodorant gels or sticks. These product forms typically contain a gelling agent, solvent, and perfume or antimicrobial active.
Fatty acid soaps are commonly used as gelling agents in topical deodorant gels, examples of which include include sodium or potassium salts of naturally occurring fatty acids. The gelling agent is generally used in combination with a highly polar alcohol solvent to provide aesthetics such as clarity, ease of application, cool and refreshing feel on application, lack of powdery residue, and dry feel. Monohydric and dihydric alcohols, especially propylene glycol and dipropylene glycol, are often used for this purpose.
Many types of gel deodorant formulations are known, including those which comprise fatty acid salts and a solvent such as water, monohydric alcohols, or dihydric alcohols. A typical example of such a formulation are the alcohol-containing gels which comprise a fatty acid salt or other similar gellant, triclosan or other deodorant active, and a polar solvent such as ethanol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol or other higher molecular weight polypropylene glycols. Although these alcohol-containing deodorant gels are quite popular and commonly used, many are also harsh to the skin and can cause excessive skin irritation after topical application.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an alcohol-containing gel deodorant composition which is milder to the skin and which causes little or no skin irritation, and further to provide such a composition containing a select ratio a polymeric alcohol and nonpolymeric alcohols. It is a further object of the present to provide such a composition having improved dry feel and other cosmetic benefits such as ease of application, emolliency, fragrance longevity, and/or reduced visible residue.